1,500 govt teachers’ May pay withheld, April’s still pending

Adding to their woes, the authorities Directorate of School Education made it clear that June payment would also be withheld until teachers clear TET, which will be held on June 9 and 10. The results will be out by August first week.

The salaries of the 1,500 teachers from government aided schools were stalled since April as they hadn’t cleared TET even after the seven-year grace period. The teachers had been recruited in 2011 on the condition that they clear TET within five years from the appointment date.  “We have been completely neglected by the government. When we approached the district educational office, the officials were rude to us and told us we wouldn’t be given May salaries,” S Lakshmi, a graduate teacher from an Adyar school, told DT Next. Another teacher, on conditions of anonymity, pointed out that the teachers wouldn’t be able to afford their childrens’ school fee since salaries of April and May were stalled. “It is a pathetic situation for us,” he added. 

A senior School Education Department official said that the government did not have provisions to further extend TET timings since the High Court had also recommended that the teachers, who did not clear the exams, be dismissed.

On the teacher’s claim that the government should have conducted at least ten TETs since 2011, the official said, “For a ‘good’ teacher, one TET is enough. They (teachers) do not have any option and this is a last chance for them.”  

TET in June: Teachers fear failure in exam

The Tamil Nadu government’s initiative to give one last chance for the teachers who have not completed Teacher’s Eligibility Test (TET) within the stipulated time by giving training for clearing TET is likely to go in vain, with many teachers expressing concern that the coaching is not up to the mark.

Though Madras High Court had recommended dismissal of teachers who do not have TET qualification, the School Education Department considered it as a special case on humanitarian grounds and gave a final opportunity for them to complete TET, which is scheduled to be held in June. 

The authorities had also announced that all 1,500 teachers who are facing the crisis would also be provided special training by experts to help them secure pass mark.

However, these teachers complained that the coaching was not comprehensive enough to help them acquire enough knowledge to clear the examination. Unlike the announcement, the training was conducted by teachers from the District Institute of Education and Training (DIET). “Expert came only on the last day and explained certain things about TET,” said P Suresh, a graduate teacher at AJS government-aided school in Adambakkam.

The syllabus contains five subjects, Child Development and Pedagogy, Tamil, English, Mathematics, Environmental Studies and Science. According to Suresh, who failed to clear TET even after three attempts, the portions were huge. “How can a person teaching English for such a long time write tough exams like Maths and Social Science,” he said.

Another graduate teacher said that he completed B.Ed in 1997 but joined government school only in 2011. “Since then, I am teaching Tamil. It is difficult to recollect other subjects that we studied in B.Ed such as Mathematics and Science,” he said.

He added for most of those teaching students from classes six to eight, it would be difficult to clear the test, as all the portions in the exam are from Class nine and above.

The secretary of Tamil Nadu Teachers Association (TTA) P K Illamaran said the government should scrap TET for the affected teachers, as the decision to stop their salary was traumatic for them.